July 22 Fishing Report Courtesy Todd Casey

Mother Nature played a big part in me having a little time off this week. I had to cancel and reschedule several charters this past week due to uncontrollable rain and lightning shows. I don't mind getting a little wet while I am fishing, but I take precaution when lightning is present. The trips I did take out were fun and everybody enjoyed the slick calm waters and great redfish and trout fishing. Schools were pretty easy to find due to the bright green water and they would glow like a copper army of fish that could be seen from quite some distance.

One of the schools I ran into this past week produced a redfish with 87 spots! (Photo attached) I have been fishing for redfish all of my life and it is very seldom that you come across a redfish with this many black spots. There were also a lot of redfish along the spoil banks this past week. I would just drift bow forward down the East side of the spoils next to the ICW and blind cast top waters and Gulp lures on a weed less hook with no weight. Along these spoils you will see some good looking yellow pot holes along the way. If you Power-Pole down or anchor every time you float up on a good group of holes you can spend a little extra time fishing them before you move to the next spot.

I targeted trout only once this past week on a charter and it produced some really nice solid fish up to 27 inches. This trip we were lucky enough to find huge schools of big mullet along a side channel near the ICW and the big trout were mixed right in with the schools of mullet. All of these big trout were in about 1 to 3 foot of water on the side-channel drop off. The water they were in was brown fresh water dumping out of the arroyo. I guess these trout don't mind the layer of fresh water on top. They were definitely fat and healthy.

My fishing report this week is not as full of information and detail as my others, but I really didn't get to go fishing that much the last few days. The continuous bad fishing weather kept me at home most days and probably allowed me to have some much needed rest. I have a full schedule of trips this week and I am anxious to see what the fishing action will be "after the storm". The sky might be grey and thunder may roll, but the Laguna will be ready for me when the sun breaks through the clouds and redfish tails greet me on a peaceful morning.